When it Comes to WWDC 2013, Sometimes a Logo is Just a Logo

Nearly four months into 2013, Apple finally designed something new and interesting. And as usual, people can't stop staring at it.

The Worldwide Developers Conference logo isn't usually something to get too excited about, but this year is a little different. Not only has WWDC become Apple's biggest event of the year, in all likelihood, this year's keynote is going to bring the first bona fide update to Apple.com since last October.

It's an unusual, unprecedented stretch, which no doubt played some role in last week's record-breaking sell-out. But since it's still more than a month away -- and there's not a whole lot on the immediate horizon -- we Apple watchers have nothing better to do than study the logo. So I contacted a couple of experts in the field and got out my magnifying glass.

It's certainly an interesting one. The first thing that hit me was the absolute lack of anything Apple. The casual observer would have no clue that this was an Apple conference at all; there's no recognizable branding whatsoever, not even a collage of app icons.

But this isn't a consumer show. Regardless of what's announced or released, WWDC is first and foremost a developers' conference, and Apple knows its audience well.

"For the target market, I think it works," said Jacob Cass, founder of JUST™ Creative, "but if you had no idea what WWDC was, there would be a lot of questions."

One of those questions would surely be: What's with the Roman numerals? To those who didn't pay attention in fifth grade, those M's and I's stand for 2013, and people can't stop trying to find some hidden meaning within them. There's been some speculation that the Roman numerals are meant to mimic the hours on a classic timepiece -- hence signaling the arrival of an iWatch -- but I don't see it. I think it's strictly a design element; someone liked the way the W's and M's looked reflective. That's all.

"The Roman numerals, set in a typeface different to the usual Apple branding, is quite unusual," Cass added. "I can't really decipher how this would relate to Apple's next steps, and to me, it seems like the logo is trying too hard to be clever."

Apple strayed from its typical Myriad Set font for a much lighter Helvetica Neue, a seemingly conscious shift in style. The last time Apple switched font gears so abruptly was when the MacBook Air was released; a similar move to a skinny typeface at Macworld 2008 that mimicked the thinness and lightness of the new machine. Unlike those clean banners, however, its usage here tends to get a bit muddled by the bold colors surrounding it, especially given the semi-mirror image in the letters.

"I just don't think the 'reflective' type treatment of WWDC and MMXIII is successful," said Jeff Fisher, engineer of creative identity at LogoMotives. "The weight of the type needs to be heavier/stronger to hold its own against the size, shapes and colors of the rest of the design. In smaller applications (like on the WWDC website), the readability of the type begins to be lost."

Visibility issues aside, I just don't see any grand scheme behind the lettering either. With the thicker font, the effect of the overlapping doesn't work quite as well, and someone at Apple really wanted that mirrored effect to come through.

But the most striking aspect of the logo, of course, is the bright squares. The rounded corners are clearly reminiscent of iOS apps--and they could signal a change to the familiar interface, as some have suggested, but that seems unlikely. The selection of overlapping colors are, however, very much open to interpretation.

"I do think the logo shape and color treatment creates a refreshing and attention-getting identifier for the 2013 event," Fisher said. "I appreciate the clever use of colors used in the stripes of the Apple logo designed by Rob Janoff in 1977 and used by the company through 1998."

The colors don't quite match, but the bold use of purple, green, blue, red, and yellow is certainly indicative of the classic rainbow Apple logo. It also mixes a bit like an RGB color wheel, and has motion feel that reminds me of the classic "Our Feature Presentation" title card from the 1960s; when I look at it, I can practically hear Keith Mansfield's "Funky Fanfare" playing underneath.

But that's not to say it's foreshadowing the release of an Apple television set. That's just silly.